Novice LP - Session 31

BW - 230

Squats -
BarX5
155X4
205X3
255X2
305X1
325X5, 5, 4

Press -
BarX5
85X3
105X2
120X1
135X5, 5, 5

Chins - BWX5, 5, 5, 3

Good session.  I knew I would bounce back from the (literal) shit-show on Monday.  325X5 is an all-around PR.  I should have gotten all 3 sets of 5, but I didn't hit the bottom right on the very last rep and ended up just sitting in the hole with it.  A technique error, and not a strength failure.  Will go at it again this weekend.

Press was awesome.  I felt like a found...I don't know.  Maybe it's most simply described by saying, "I found the groove."  Even as reps got hard, it seemed like I knew how to stay under the bar in a way that allowed me to push through.  On to 137.5, hahaha!

Got a few more reps on chins, but also attacked them with a bit more abandon, i.e. not coming to full extension.

Novice LP - Session 30 (coached)

BW - 228

Squats -
BarX5
135X4
185X3
235X2
285X1
325X4, 1
275X5

Bench -
BarX5
95X3
135X2
175X1
202.5X3, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X3
225X2
285X1
327.5X1

Awful session.  I had some kind of stomach churn that had me running to the restroom between my last 3-4 sets of Squats.  Left me a sweaty mess.  The weight didn't feel that heavy, but there was no oomph out of the bottom.  325X4 is still a Rep PR.

Still felt a little rough heading into bench, but felt fine by the last two sets.  202.5X5 is a Rep PR.

Don't know about the Deadlift. Maybe just out of gas by the time I got here.  Don't know.

Coach is talking about moving out of the novice program.

Novice LP - Session 29

BW - 228

Squats -
BarX5
155X4
205X3
255X2
305X1
320X5, 5, 5

Press -
BarX5
90X3
105X2
125X1
135X3, 5, 4

Cleans -
up to around 133X3, 3, 3,

Felt very strong on Squats this day.  All 3 sets were smooth.  Rep PR, and right around my best project 1RM.

Press felt really uncontrolled on the first set.  Came back strong and got all 5 reps on set 2, but the 5th rep on set 3 stalled just above my head.  Will try this weight again next time.

Cleans were fine.

Novice LP - Session 28

BW - 229

Squats -
BarX5
145X4
205X3
255X2
295X1
315X5, 5, 5

Bench -
BarX5
115X4
145X3
185X1
200X5, 5, 5

Chins -
BWX5, 4, 3, 2

Good stuff.

It was a year ago, on 12/22/14, that I hit 315X1 for the first time.  Went through a lot of ups and down with training in 2015 due to both injuries and conflicting priorities, but here I was on 12/23/15 hitting 315 for 3 sets of 5.  Needless to say every rep after the 1st one was a PR, and that feels great. And I owe a lot to my coach at Kratos and my P.T. at Chicago Spine and Sports. 

Followed that up with a Rep PRs on bench with 200X5 and got all 3 sets of those.  Both this and Squats are creeping into all-around PR territory now.

Even felt a little stronger on my now pitiful chin-ups.  Feel like those may be due for an upswing already.

Novice LP - Session 27

BW - 227

Squat -
BarX5
135X4
205X3
245X2
295X1
310X5, 5, 5

Press -
BarX5
85X3
105X2
125X1
132.5X5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X5
225X3
295X1
325X5

Great session.

Got all three sets with 310, breaking through my previous plateau.

132.5X5 is a Rep PR on Press and I got all three sets here as well.

Failed to get 5 reps with 325 on Deadlift last week, but got them here.

Novice LP - Session 26

BW - 227

Squat -
BarX5
145X4
195X3
235X2
275X1
305X5, 5, 5

Bench -
BarX5
105X3
135X2
175X1
197.5X5, 5, 5

Cleans -
Up to 1 yellow and 1 white per side

Good session.  Felt pretty strong throughout. Got waaaaay far forward on the 3rd rep on my last squat set, but managed to push through and gut out the last two reps to complete the sets.  Felt really pumped about getting through that.

Got all the reps on bench with no spotter to unrack for me.  Felt good about that too.

Cleans aren't pretty but I didn't have any trouble getting these to land mostly on my shoulders.

Still had energy to spare walking out of the gym.  Nice day.

Novice LP - Session 25

BW - 228

Squat -
BarX5
145X4
195X3
235X2
275X1
302.5X5, 5, 5

Press -
BarX5
85X3
100X2
120X1
130X5, 5, 5

Chins -
BWX5, 3, 3, 3

Was feeling beat up and also had a bad head cold.  So I only went up 2.5 lbs. on the squat sets.  Got them all though, and feel fine about the decision.

Broke through the last plateau on Press.  Failed to get all the 3 sets of 5 previously.

Very humbling to come back to chins after having not done them for 2 months (and not having done them very often in 2015 at all).  At this new, heavier BW, these were quite difficult.  Also, laboring to get good extension but stay under tension.  At this BW, 9 reps would be a PR.  So we'll see what happens as I start to get back into the flow with these.

Novice LP - Session 24 (coached)

BW - 227

Squats -
BarX5
135X4
185X3
225X2
265X1
300X5, 5, 5

Bench -
BarX5
95X3
135X2
165X1
195X5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X3
225X2
285X1
325X3, 0

Life got in the way at the end of last week, and so I missed my third workout.  We persevere.

Squats moved really well.

Bench was heavy, but all the reps were fairly smooth.

Deadlift got out in front of me on the 3rd rep, and I had to fight for it.  Took a few beats, reset, and tried to pull a 4th, but gas was gone.  Coach is going to start mixing in Chins with Deads and Cleans.  Seems a bit weird, because my squat is starting to catch up, but we'll see!

Novice LP - Session 23

BW - 225

Squats -
BarX5
130X4
170X3
210X2
250X1
285X5
295X5, 5

Press -
BarX5
80X3
95X2
115X1
127.5X5, 5, 5

Cleans -
Up to 133X3, 3, 3

Screwed up and used the wrong weight on my first squat set.  Whatever.  Everything went okay, but my low back felt beat up by the end.

Novice LP - Session 22 (coached)

BW - 226

Squats -
BarX5
125X4
165X3
205X2
245X1
290X5, 5, 5

Bench -
BarX5
85X4
115X3
145X2
165X1
185X5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X3
225X2
285X1
320X5

Good session.  Felt strong all the way through, and all the lifts moved well.

Still coach decided to err on the side of slow progress, and we're going to go with 5s on S/B/D and 2.5s on Press going forward, plus Deadlift will start alternating with Cleans again now that I've worked back up to around pre-Holiday numbers.

Novice LP - Session 21

BW - 224

Squat -
BarX5
135X4
175X3
225X2
255X1
285X5, 5, 5

Press -
BarX5
75X3
90X2
110X1
125X5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X5
195X3
245X2
285X1
315X5

Solid session.  Attended a bench press seminar being held at the gym beforehand with an IPF record holder.  Guy named Vadym Dovhanyuk.  Here he is with 440X10.  Strong guy.

All the lifts went well.

Novice LP - Session 20

BW - 225

Squats -
BarX5
125X4
165X3
215X2
245X1
275X5, 5, 5

Bench -
BarX5
85X4
115X3
135X2
160X1
175X5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X4
185X3
235X2
275X1
305X5

Solid session.  Everything seemed a little awkward, but that's probably just 1st un-coached session after the holiday break.

Novice LP - Session 19 (coached)

BW - 224

Squat -
BarX5
115X4
155X3
205X2
235X1
265X5, 5, 5

Press -
BarX5
70X3
85X2
100X1
115X5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X3
225X2
265X1
295X5

Had a little over a week off with Thanksgiving travel and holiday, so coach backed everything up 10% and we'll make 5-10 lb. jumps on everything until we get back up to where we were.  Basically end of next week.

Everything felt good for the most part.